How to Keep Stainless Steel from Streaking

Keeping stainless steel from streaking is not always easy. Water, in any form, can cause severe streaking or spotting. Moisture, rain, and high humidity are just a few culprits for causing streaking, which will lead to an unsightly mess. Here are a few tips for getting those unsightly streaks and spots off of your stainless steel, whether it's a new set of rims or your favorite kitchen utensils.

Rubbing Alcohol
The cheapest, most effective way to clean stainless steel is by using rubbing alcohol. For less then a dollar a bottle you can shine your stainless steel with little effort. Apply to a soft cloth and rub the stainless steel until clean and completely dry.

Lemon juice and Baking Soda
The trusty old lemon juice and baking soda combination works great on stainless steel as well. Sprinkle the stainless steel with baking soda and then shake a little lemon juice on the baking soda. As the two mix together, they will create a foaming yet abrasive, cleaner. Using a cloth or sponge wipe down the entire piece of stainless steel. Keep in my you need to complete this part rather quickly and rinse with water and immediately dry with a soft cloth in a polishing-like manner.

Windex
Windex is among one of the few house hold cleaners that will actually clean stainless steel with out streaking (mainly because of its alcohol contents).

Baby Oil
After cleaning stainless steel you a soft cloth and a dab of baby oil. Polish the stainless steal in a circular motion until you have applied it evenly across the stainless steal. This will leave a super shiny, streak free, gleam. Hint: Do not use too much baby oil. Start off with a small amount. You can always add more to your cloth as needed. Adding to much will cause a mess!

Squeegee
Using a squeegee is one of the easiest ways to get a quick, streak free shine. One thing to remember when using a squeegee is that you have to get every last drop of water off. Even one single drop will be enough to leave marks.

When all else fails, you can use a professional cleaner. All of them claim to be able to clean stainless steel with out streaking but in reality not all of them can. Another thing to keep in mind is how well they rinse or polish off of the stainless steel itself. Thick, pasty cleaners can require a lot of work. While they may work wonders they may also be hard to complete. Professional cleaners can also be costly. Therefore, another reason that the above listed tips are the easiest, most cost effective ways to go!